Applied Epic Accounting

Closing the Year in Applied Epic: Why It’s Important and How to Do It

February 8, 2024 by Kellie Halfpap

No matter what type of fiscal period your agency operates by, year-end procedures should be performed in Applied Epic for accounting. This is typically done after all items for the last month of that year are recorded. Some agencies do keep the previous fiscal year open for a little longer, which allows for any applicable adjustments to be made. You do not have to close the fiscal year to begin work for a new one.

However, Year-End should still be done once you’re ensured all items for that year are recorded and all adjustments have been made.

If, at this point, you realize that your agency has never executed year-end—or you simply need a refresher on this process—continue reading through this article. We will explain the importance of executing year-end, how it’s done, and what happens afterwards.

Why Should I Perform a Year-End Procedure in Applied Epic?

The biggest and most important reason year-end procedures are done is for reporting purposes. When the process is initiated, it generates year-end journal entries (YJE) that zero out the Income and Expense accounts. Your Income figures should not roll into the following fiscal year.

As a result, this process pushes figures for net profit and/or loss in Retained Earnings on the Balance Sheet. If Year-End is not run, your Income Statement for the following year will show the previous year’s figures in the Year-to-Date column.

How to Process Your Applied Epic Year-End

Year-end procedures are performed similar to Month-end. You will navigate to Procedures, then Accounting, and then Year-End. If you have multiple agencies configured in your system, you will need to highlight each one and click Actions and Close Year. However, before you get to that last step, make sure all months in that closing fiscal year are closed first. Navigate to Month-End, generate journal entries for the last month, then click Actions and Close Month.

If there are previous months still open, Epic will tell you that those will need to be closed as well and will do that for you.

Important Note: Never Finalize a Month

If a month is finalized, it cannot be re-opened to allow for adjustments you may need to change. As mentioned before, you can close the final month of the fiscal year and keep that year open to allow for adjustments to be made (perhaps adjusting entries by your CPA). But if you do close the year, you can still make adjustments.

You can re-open the month of the closed year, which automatically re-opens the year. Make any adjustments needed, generate journal entries once more, close the month, and then re-close the year.

The system will generate new year-end journal entries to include the adjustments made. If you do keep the year open until adjustments are made, make sure you move the Default Month forward to the first month of the new fiscal year so that nothing is accidentally transacted or added/removed against the previous year, which can mess up reporting.

Your Next Steps After a Year-End is Completed

With the fiscal year closed, you can run reports that contain the most accurate data for that year. To capture the full year’s financial data, run your Balance Sheet (Accounting Month Criteria: Select month open through last month of the fiscal year) and Income Statement (Accounting Month Criteria: Select Month – the final month of your fiscal year).

If after reviewing you find things do not look right or adjustments are needed, follow the steps mentioned in the previous section of this blog. You can re-run the reports after those adjustments are made to apply the fixes. Always save copies of the reports prior to making any changes or adjustments. You can track your changes and go back a step if needed.

How KiteTech's Consulting Team Can Help with Applied Epic

If you are unsure on the integrity of your accounting data and want to begin utilizing accounting reports, KiteTech can help. We’ve put together a library of resources about Applied Epic that you can check out.

Our Epic Consulting team can also review your data and determine whether some cleanup is needed or if an Applied Epic Fresh Start is necessary. If you find your agency does not have the bandwidth to keep up with the bookkeeping in Epic, we can handle that for you as well!

Reach out to us today to discuss how KiteTech can help with your Epic Accounting needs!

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Decoding Applied Epic Accounting: Your Comprehensive Glossary

September 12, 2023 by Kellie Halfpap Leave a Comment

Applied Epic’s accounting features introduce a range of terms that may vary from traditional accounting vocabularies or those in other agency management systems. For agencies newly adopting Epic for their accounting practices, unfamiliar terms can lead to uncertainties regarding process accuracy. To assist, we’ve provided a list of commonly used words and phrases in Applied Epic as they relate to various accounting workflows. Use this as a guide to help clarify any ambiguities in your agency’s accounting procedures.

Applied Epic Accounting Glossary of Terms

Accounting Method

Configured based on how agency recognizes income and pays producers/brokers.

Cash – Agency recognizes income when it is received.
Accrual – Agency recognizes income when policy is billed/transacted.
Partially Paid – Agency pays producers/brokers when partial commission is received. This would include installments (either Direct or Agency Bill) or client down payments.
Fully Paid – Agency pays producers/brokers when full policy commission is received or when client pays premium or down payment in full.

Accounts Receivable

Any money owed to the agency by a client or Finance Company for Agency Bill policies.

Agency Bill

Policy premiums are paid to the agency by the client. The Agency retains their commission and forwards net premium and any applicable fees to the company/broker.

Applying Credits to Debits

Applying client payments and CFIN transactions to outstanding balances on client accounts.

Balance Sheet vs Income Statement

Balance Sheet – A report that shows all Asset, Liability, and Equity GL balances. Assets equal Liabilities + Equity. These GL balances perpetually roll year-to-year.
Income Statement – A report that shows all Income and Expense GL balances. At year end, net income moves to Retained Earnings on the Balance Sheet and all GL balances revert to $0 for the beginning of the new fiscal year.

CFIN vs Actions > Finance

CFIN – Finance company pays the company/broker.
Actions > Finance Transaction – Finance company pays the agency who then pays the company/broker.

Chart of Accounts

General Ledger (GL) accounts specifically coded for recording Assets, Liability, Equity, Income & Expense.

Regular – GL account codes that do not require sub-accounts (i.e., Accounts Receivable, Bank Accounts, Sweep, Equity accounts)
Title Accounts – Primary GL accounts that typically include Sub-Accounts (i.e., Income accounts, Payable accounts, Expense accounts)
Sub-Accounts – Breakout categories for your Title Accounts by entity (Carriers, Brokers, Expenses, etc.)

Direct Bill

Policy premiums are paid directly by the client to the company/broker. Company/Broker will forward commissions to the agency.

Direct Bill Commission Download

A way to receive commissions through IVANS which puts them into Download Suspense for processing to Direct Bill Reconciliations.

Direct Bill Download Suspense

Where downloaded commissions are waiting to be processed and recognized as actual transactions and income received to the agency.

General Ledger

Receipts – Where deposits are recorded. This can be client payments, Direct Bill commission, miscellaneous income items, return premium, or money received from a Finance Company.
Disbursements – Where agency payments are recorded, either electronically or by check. This could be Premium Payables, Vendor Payables, payroll, sweep payments, etc.
Journal Entry (JE)– Created when you need to move balances from one GL account to another.
- System Generated Month-End Journal Entries (MJEs) – Configuration-driven Journal Entries that run automatically at month-end based off the completion of a specific workflow (Direct Bill Commission Receivable and Cash on Account Receipts tied to a Reconciliation, Invoiced Agency Bill items, Producer/Broker Commission Expense and Payable accounts).
- Manually Entered – Journal Entries agency creates to correct GL account balances, or as a second option to record transfers between bank accounts, payroll, credit card payments, etc.
Reconciliations –
- Direct Bill – Where to record commissions agency receives for direct bill policies through Download, Import, or manual entry.
- Premium Payable – Where to pull in the transactions made on the client screen to pay net premium to company/broker. Creates a Disbursement when Finalized and Actions > Pay Statement.
- Pr/Br Payables – To reconcile commissions due to a producer/broker.
- Bank – To verify all activity entered in Epic matches activity in your bank account.
Direct Bill Import – A way to record Direct Bill commission received through an Excel mapping file that contains criteria from the commission statement.

Issuing Company (ICO)

The company that underwrites the policy being written. Think of it as the ‘paper the policy is written on.’ The NAICs are configured to the Issuing Company, which ensures Download operates properly.

Payables

Any items the agency needs to pay.

Vendor – Items owed to entities not related to policies. This can be agency expenses like electricity, rent, advertising, license renewals, loans, credit card, office expenses, etc.
Premium Payables – Carrier invoices for clients with agency bill policies.

Premium Payable Entity (PPE)

This can be a company or broker and is the one who pays commission to the agency and who the agency pays for Agency Bill items. A PPE company can be the same as an ICO, but it is important to check the policy to ensure if there is a difference.

Status of Accounts (aka General Ledger) Report

A report that shows all GL account activity as debits and credits with beginning and ending balance for each GL account. In standard accounting, this report is well known as a General Ledger report.

Conclusion

To properly utilize the accounting reports (or any report) in your Epic system, you need accurate data. To help maintain accurate data it is crucial to understand accounting workflows in Applied Epic, including its various terms and phrases. If you have any questions on the terminology defined above, or on Epic accounting in general, do not hesitate to reach out to us at consult@kitetechgroup.com. You can also visit our website to learn more about KiteTech’s Applied Epic Accounting and Outsourced Bookkeeping Services. Want to download and save this glossary as a PDF so you can easily refer to it as needed? Click here to download now. And be sure to check back next month for our next glossary of General Applied Epic vocabulary.

Kellie Halfpap

Buffy Johnson

Laura Fisher

Brooke Perrone

Performing General Ledger Account Reconciliations in Applied Epic

May 12, 2023 by Buffy Johnson Leave a Comment

It’s month end and time to run your month end accounting balancing reports and financial statements. You review your balance sheet and income statement and one or more of your general ledger account balances looks incorrect…what do you do? How do you know if the general ledger account balances are correct? Where do you even start with how to research and make corrections?

This is a task that many agencies face every month or when the time comes to send your financial statements to your CPA. This can be a very overwhelming and time-consuming task but learning strategies about where to look and how to make those corrections will empower you with the tools necessary to analyze and ensure that your GL balances are accurate. Most of the time, it is your Cash, Receivables, Cash on Account, and Payables balances that can become incorrect and figuring out why can be like finding a needle in a haystack.

Time to put on your analytical hat and perform your General Ledger Account Reconciliations! This important process will help ensure the accuracy and integrity of your agency’s financial statements. It is equally important as reconciling your commissions, producer payables, and bank statements.

Getting Started Performing General Ledger Account Reconciliations

1. Obtain a good understanding of your accounting configuration in Epic.

Is your agency set up as Cash or Accrual for Agency Bill and Direct Bill Income? How do you post Direct Bill Commissions and how are your Producers and Brokers paid? This configuration is what sets the “behind the scenes” entries for Epic to calculate and post policy transactions.

2. Run your Balance Sheet to include sub-accounts.

Make sure you select to run this report as “Open” through your current month or the month you are researching. Balance sheet accounts roll from year to year so you always must start with your beginning month in Epic. On this report, you can view your receivable and payable accounts by sub-account and look for balances that look incorrect. Balances with negatives or that are uncharacteristically large or small are good places to start. Assets (Cash, Receivables, Cash on Account, and Fixed Assets) are natural debit balances and Liabilities (Vendor/Company/Broker/Producer payables and Debt payables) are natural credit balances. If you see negatives in these general ledger accounts, start there.

3. Run your Income Statement to include sub-accounts.

Also in this report, balances with negatives or that are uncharacteristically large or small are good places to start. Income accounts are natural credits and Expense accounts are natural debits. If you see negatives in these balances, it indicates that perhaps a Receipt or a Disbursement was entered incorrectly. Missing commissions could mean that receipts and reconciliations have not been completed, depending on your accounting configuration.

4. Run a Status of Accounts Report for the general ledger accounts that look incorrect on your Balance Sheet and Income Statement.

This report contains information about every transaction that is posted to these general ledger accounts. Here you will find line-item details about the Receipts (R), Disbursements (D), Journal Entries (J), System Generated Journal Entries (MJE), and Voided Entries (DV, RV). Each one of these entries has a reference number that you can look up in Receipts, Disbursements, and Journal Entries to review and make sure they were entered correctly. Journal Entries (J) are always a good place to start since they are manually created debits and credits to GL accounts, and it is easy to select the wrong GL account or enter incorrectly.

5. Reconcile your bank accounts in Epic every month.

This will catch missing or incorrectly entered Receipts and Disbursements in your cash accounts in Epic. Every entry that is posted in your bank accounts must also be entered into Epic as a Receipt or a Disbursement. Think of it as a mirroring process. If you are struggling to balance your bank reconciliation, use your Status of Accounts report to help identify debits and credits in your cash accounts that may need correcting. Reconciling your bank accounts in Epic every month ensures the accuracy of your cash account balances on your balance sheet.

6. Find duplicate, missing, or incorrect entries in the Status of Accounts Report.

In the Status of Accounts Report, you can find duplicate entries or perhaps if an entry was entered backwards (entered as a debit instead of a credit or vice-versa) or not at all. If you receipt commissions to Cash on Account or Direct Bill Commission Receivable instead of directly to Commission Income, the Status of Accounts report is a great place to review the Receipts (which are credits to the asset account) and make sure that you see the offsetting MJE that moves the commission from the Balance Sheet to the Income Statement (which are debits to the asset account). They should offset each other to zero and if you have a balance in this account at month end, it can indicate that the Direct Bill Commission Reconciliation has not been completed and/or associated to the Receipt for that accounting month.

7. Correct your entries and re-run the reports.

Once you identify errors, the accounting team can make the correcting entries and re-run the reports to make sure the general ledger balances now look correct on your financial statements. Making this GL Account Reconciliation analysis part of your month end accounting process will help your agency stay on top of making sure your financial statements are accurate and will prevent having to spend countless hours and days at year end having to go back to find and correct errors in previous months. If there are consistent GL account errors happening, you need to review your agency’s accounting and servicing workflows to make sure transactions are being entered and reconciled correctly.

How KiteTech can help

Performing these General Ledger Account Reconciliations in Epic is an important step in your month end closing process but can be an overwhelming and time-consuming task. If you find that your agency is struggling with understanding and ensuring the accuracy of your month end accounting reports and financial statements, the KiteTech Agency Consulting team is here to help! We have extensive experience in Applied Epic accounting, and we are ready to provide customized solutions that meet your agency’s unique needs. We can assist your agency with accounting optimization, forensic accounting and cleanup, as well as Outsourced Bookkeeping Services. Contact us today for more information!

Buffy Johnson

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Bookkeeping in Applied Epic: 10 Best Practices for Accurate Financial Reporting

April 18, 2023 by Buffy Johnson Leave a Comment

Accurate bookkeeping in Applied Epic is an area where many agencies struggle and lack confidence in the integrity of their accounting data and financial reports. Applied Epic has a well-designed accounting system that captures all your agency’s financial data and organizes it into various financial reports. These reports are critical analytical tools that can help management understand the financial health of your agency, as well as assist in making financial decisions about agency growth and process improvements. In this article, we will explore 10 best practices for bookkeeping in Applied Epic to help you ensure accurate financial data.

Best Practices for Accurate Bookkeeping in Epic

1. Record Every Financial Transaction with Receipts and Disbursements

Accurate financial data involves keeping track of every single financial transaction in your agency. Knowing how much you earn and how much money you spend is important for getting an idea of your actual income and expenses. Entering your receipts and disbursements and verifying them on your bank statement or your online banking portal is a critical step to ensuring that every transaction is recorded in Epic and reported on your financial statements.

2. Record Payroll Entries

Another important step of bookkeeping is recording the payroll. Whether you calculate, record and submit your agency payroll on your own or use an outsourced payroll service, entering your payroll data into Epic ensures that all payroll transactions are recorded on your financial statements accurately.

3. Reconcile Direct Bill Commissions

Reconciling your direct bill policy commissions is another critical step in accurate financial reporting. For direct bill commissions, you can download, import, or manually reconcile your commissions and once reconciled, tie them to your commission deposits to ensure that they will be reported on your income statement correctly.

4. Reconcile Premium Payables

There are multiple steps necessary for the accurate recording of your premium payable/agency bill policies in Epic. The accurate invoicing of the policies to your clients, recording the receipt of their payment, reconciling the premium payable to the company or broker, and disbursing payment of the premium payable to the carrier are the steps necessary to properly record these transactions in Epic.

5. Record Direct Bill Sweeps

Many agencies offer the courtesy of collecting policy payments for their clients and paying the carrier on their behalf. These are called “sweeps”. Making sure the client’s payment is receipted to their account and the payment to the carrier is recorded as a Premium Advance will accurately capture these transactions in Epic and keep the premium bank account balance and accounts receivable on the balance sheet accurate.

6. Reconcile and Pay Producer and Broker Commissions

Whether you use the Pr/Br Reconciliation feature in Epic or reconcile and review your producer/broker payables manually, you need accurate Pr/Br commission data in your system so you can pay them commissions that are owed. Verifying that commission agreements are set up and attached to policies in Epic will ensure that your producers and brokers are paid accurately and timely every month.

7. Perform Monthly Bank Reconciliations

Reconciling your bank accounts monthly is a critical bookkeeping step that ensures that all financial transactions are recorded in Epic and that your bank balance in Epic ties to the bank account. This reconciliation will ensure that all financial data is correctly reported on your financial statements.

8. Run Month End Accounting Reports

In Epic, there are several month end accounting reports that you can run and review before closing your month. These reports will help you determine if there are any incomplete transactions and ensure that you have reconciled all commissions received and that your receivables and payables tie to your General Ledger.

9. Analyze General Ledger Account Balances Using the Status of Accounts Report

The Status of Accounts report is a valuable tool to review the debit and credit transactions in all your General Ledger accounts. Use this report to analyze the detail of your balance sheet and income statement balances when balances look incorrect. Once you determine what caused the errors in your balances, you can further complete transactions and/or enter a journal entry to correct balances.

10. Review of Final Income Statement and Balance Sheet

Once you determine that your financial reports and data are complete and accurate, the final monthly bookkeeping step is to close the month in Epic. Once you close the month, you are now ready to submit your final monthly financial reports to your CPA if required. Management will also now have the tools they need to analyze the agency’s financial data to plan for future financial decisions.

Conclusion

Proper bookkeeping in Applied Epic is essential for agency management to understand in order to be able to make informed financial decisions. Without knowing the details of your agency’s finances, it’s difficult to evaluate opportunities for growth and investment. Monthly and yearly financial statements can give you a lot of information about your agency and help you pinpoint areas for improvement. They are also vital for your CPA to obtain for accurate and timely tax reporting.

Accounting and bookkeeping in Epic can be very overwhelming for an agency when they don’t trust the accuracy of their financial data. If your agency needs help with accounting and bookkeeping in Epic, the KiteTech Agency Consulting team is here to help! We have extensive experience in Applied Epic accounting and we are ready to provide customized solutions that meet your agency’s unique needs. We can assist your agency with accounting optimization, forensic accounting and cleanup, and even outsourced bookkeeping services. Contact us today for more information!

Buffy Johnson

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Outsourced Applied Epic Bookkeeping

Applied Epic

EXPERT OUTSOURCED BOOKKEEPING

Are you struggling to keep up with the demands of accounting in your agency? Kite Technology can help! Our Agency Consulting team has bookkeepers on staff with expertise in Applied Epic, ready to provide customized solutions that meet your agency’s needs.

We understand that every insurance agency is unique and has specific accounting needs. Our expert team takes a custom approach to outsourcing and will develop a plan that meets your agency’s specific accounting requirements. We will also implement our KiteTech Best Practices to ensure that you get the best possible service.

With our outsourced bookkeeping services, you’ll have a dedicated KiteTech bookkeeping team member who will be focused on all of your agency’s accounting needs.

Do you have concerns about the accuracy of your agency’s current accounting data? We can also provide forensic accounting and cleanup services to help agencies achieve accuracy in their financial reporting.

BOOKKEEPING SERVICES

including but not limited to

ENTRY OF RECEIPTS, DISBURSEMENTS, AND JOURNAL ENTRIES

We will handle the accurate and timely entry of all bank transactions, which is vital to your agency’s accounting data and report integrity.

VENDOR PAYABLES

We will manage your vendor payables, ensuring that all bills are paid accurately and on time, ensuring that expenses are appropriately allocated.

ACCOUNTING MANAGEMENT REPORTS

Our team will deliver regular accounting management reports, providing an accurate picture of your agency’s financial health.

DIRECT BILL COMMISSION RECONCILIATION

We will ensure that your direct bill commissions are accurately recorded and reconciled to your financial records, including manual recording, importing, and direct bill commission download processing.

PRODUCER/BROKER PAYABLES

We will provide a method for producer and broker payables whether that be by producer commission reports, production reports, or by utilizing the Pr/Br reconciliation in Applied Epic.

REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETINGS

We will schedule regular meetings with your bookkeeper to review progress, discuss any accounting issues, and ensure that all your accounting needs are being met.

PREMIUM PAYABLE RECONCILIATION

We will reconcile your agency bill invoices and statements, ensuring that all transactions are paid on time and recorded in Applied Epic. This ensures that your premium payable reports are balanced to your financial records.

MONTH-END BANK RECONCILIATION

We will reconcile your bank accounts at the end of each month, ensuring that all transactions are recorded accurately and that all discrepancies are identified and resolved.

Learn how we can eliminate your agency’s accounting headaches!

MAXIMIZE YOUR AGENCY’S POTENTIAL

Maximize your agency’s growth potential by outsourcing your bookkeeping tasks to our team of experts. KiteTech’s Agency Consulting team understands that your time and resources are valuable, which is why we provide efficient and cost-effective solutions that allow you to focus on your agency.

By choosing our services, you’ll have peace of mind knowing that your accounting and bookkeeping needs are being handled by a team of professionals with extensive Applied Epic expertise. Our customized solutions are tailored to meet the unique needs of your agency, and we work closely with you to ensure that all your requirements are met.

BENEFITS OF OUTSOURCING:

Expertise

Professional bookkeepers have the necessary skills and experience to handle complex accounting tasks, ensuring accuracy and compliance with accounting standards.

Cost Savings

Outsourcing can be a cost-effective solution, as it eliminates the need to hire a full-time bookkeeper and reduces overhead costs associated with in-house bookkeeping.

Peace of Mind

With an outsourced bookkeeper, you can have peace of mind knowing that your financial records are accurate and up-to-date, allowing you to make informed decisions for your agency's future.

Efficiency

Outsourcing bookkeeping tasks can help streamline processes, reduce errors, and save time, allowing you to focus on core business activities.

Customization

An outsourced bookkeeper can tailor their services to meet your agency's specific needs and requirements, providing customized solutions that align with your business goals.

Growth Potential

With our outsourced bookkeeping services, you can focus on growing your business without worrying about the time-consuming tasks of bookkeeping.

Transaction Reports in Applied Epic (Part II)

January 12, 2023 by Kellie Halfpap Leave a Comment

Transaction Reports Part II

In this final installment of our Reports series, this article will highlight more Transaction reports that are most effective for agency management and daily operations. While we cannot review every report found under Transaction Reports, the ones listed below have proven to be most valuable when it comes to transaction-based data tracking.

Government Payables Report

If your agency pays government taxes/fees, this report will display outstanding as well as ones paid in the Government Payables Reconciliations area in the General Ledger. Use this to balance outstanding items that have not yet been paid.

Month-End Balancing Current Premium Payables*

This report is based off the Balancing Current Premium Payables report. This is a highly useful report to run at month-end to confirm your Payable Balances with your PPEs is in align with your GL Account Balance on the Balance Sheet. When run, any differences between the two will be highlighted for each out of balance PPE. Ensure that your Balance Sheet is correct and that all payments have been paid to carriers/brokers with this report.

Month-End Balancing Producer/Broker Payables*

This report is based off the Balancing Current Premium Payables report. This is a helpful report to run to balance your GL accounts by displaying outstanding items that have not yet been paid out to producers or brokers. When run, it will highlight the difference if the payable balance does not equal the GL Account Balance for each producer/broker and will display payables that are on the Balance Sheet even for previous periods. This report can only be used if your Epic system is configured to reconcile producer and/or broker payables. If this is not something currently activated in your system and you would like to start, go to Configure > Accounting > System Settings to turn this feature on.

Producer Commission

A Producer Commission report is used to review producer commission that is posted by month-end based on the producer’s payment method for Agency and Direct bill transactions. This is a great report to send to a producer’s My Reports for them to track their commission. You can modify the criteria to show data by month and send it to a producer’s Reports Quickview.

Production Report – Modified

This report is a production summary report with several different major sorting options. You can view columns for the transaction amount, agency commission, and Pr/Br commission sorted by Transaction types, Premium Payable, Policy/Line Type, Pr/Br, and/or Account Name. You can change the report criteria to run the report specifically based on what transaction data you want to see.

Unapplied Cash/Credit Report

This report should be run to identify if there are any client payments that have not been applied to an invoice, if credits to debits haven’t been applied, or if there is money due back to a client from an overpayment. It is recommended to run this report before closing the month.

Verify Transaction Commissions – Premium Payable Agreements

This report is used to identify discrepancies between the transacted commission information for premium payables and the company commission agreements in Epic. You can modify the criteria to show data by Agency Bill, Direct Bill, or both. You also can run the report by premium payable company or premium payable broker, or both.

Verify Transaction Commissions – Producer/Broker Agreements

This report is used to identify discrepancies between the transacted producer/broker commissions and the producer/broker commission agreements in Epic. You can modify the criteria to run the report by producer/broker to send to them individually for review.

Conclusion

Be sure to review all the available reports found under the Transactions section to ensure that you are running all the ones that best fit your agency’s needs. This is the last Reports section to review, so stay tuned for a complete downloadable booklet that will include the highlights off all the reports from our previous articles.

If you have any questions on any of the reports we have reviewed or would like assistance configuring a report to your agency’s needs, feel free to reach out to our KiteTech Consulting team. We’re here to help!

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Buffy Johnson

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Check out the other articles in our Applied Epic Report Series:

Transaction Reports in Applied Epic (Part I)

December 9, 2022 by Kellie Halfpap Leave a Comment

As we near the conclusion of our Applied Epic Reports Series, this article will highlight the last section of Reports – Transaction Reports. Due to the large number of reports available in this section, we will be breaking this into two parts. Utilizing transaction reports assists with tracking client balances, general ledger payables, and more. We cover some of the most useful reports below, but also recommend checking out all reports available in that section to see if there are others that fit your agency’s needs.

Aged Outstanding Current Balances Report

When a transaction is created or a payment is applied to a client account, it creates a receivable entry that will show up on the Aged Outstanding Current Balances Report. This report shows an aged date to help you determine if a client still owes payment for a policy, if credits/debits need to be applied, or if a refund is due to the client. It is useful to run this report at least monthly so that outstanding items are taken care of in a timely manner. If a client has not paid for a policy transaction, their account could fall into Notice of Cancellation status, so this report can help track the aged date of items due.

Balancing Current Premium Payables

When it comes to agency bill transactions, you want to make sure that your agency has paid your carriers/brokers in a timely manner. To see what payables haven’t yet been created/reconciled for a determined time period, run this report to see what accounts still have open payables in the general ledger account. We recommend running this report quite frequently in order to make sure payments have not been missed and prevent Notice of Cancellations or E&O risk.

Balancing Producer/Broker Payables

This report will only be useful for agencies who have the ‘reconcile producer and/or brokers’ option configured in their Epic system. If you utilize and reconcile Pr/Br Payables under General Ledger > Reconciliations, this report will show items that have not yet been reconciled and remain in the producer/broker payables GL account for the specific time period selected. This helps to ensure your producers and/or brokers have gotten paid for all accounts, and it is recommended to run this report when determining payroll for the month. To enable this reconciling option, go to Configure > Accounting > System Settings, then select the appropriate option that fits your agency needs.

Commission Tracking Report

This report tracks agency commission for each policy by client to ensure that commission is received as expected. It will display every transaction for that policy in the policy term. You can also analyze premium and commission discrepancies that exceed a certain threshold. This report can be helpful to determine that all policies have estimated premium and commission amounts entered and that commissions have been reconciled for each policy. It will identify missing data and help determine that commissions have been received from the company or broker. It is useful to run this report at least monthly to ensure that commissions are being received and transacted in a timely manner.

Direct Bill Report

Use this report to view direct bill revenue that has been received or is still outstanding. This report has multiple criteria options depending on what kind of information you are looking for. If you select the Unpaid criteria, this will list items found in the Direct Bill Commissions reconciliation area. If you want to see commissions received, set your criteria to items Partially Paid, Fully Paid or Paid. If you want to see items that have been reconciled but do not have a receipt associated, select the Reconciled, Not Paid criteria before running the report.

Earned Commissions Report

This report is a very helpful summary when wanting to identify total commissions earned by a company or broker. It summarizes the earned commission detail for each transaction for a policy and breaks it down in PPE order by premium earned, Pr/Br commission amount as well as agency commission earned. At the end of the report, a summary page is included for totals by PPE. It provides good insight as to how much the agency is earning from each company and broker and what the Pr/Br commissions are for a designated period. This is also a useful report for management to assess total sources of revenue by company and broker.

Conclusion

As mentioned throughout this article, many of the reports mentioned are most helpful when run frequently to keep the length of the report minimal and ensure your General Ledger remains balanced. When it comes to month or year-end balancing, reconciling outstanding balances and payables becomes more time consuming and confusing when you have 20+ pages per report.

Our Agency Consulting team here at KiteTech, specializes in how to implement these reports, set up automatic report scheduling, and can also assist with balancing the General Ledger when the workload becomes too much. For questions or to discuss how to properly utilize any reports mentioned in the series, contact us today at consult@kitetechgroup.com. Check back next month for the Part II of Transaction Reports, which will conclude our Reports Series.

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Buffy Johnson

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Check out the other articles in our Applied Epic Report Series:

Tips and Tricks for Accounting in Applied Epic

May 18, 2022 by Lauren Roberts Leave a Comment

There are many different methods and best practices to implement when it comes to Accounting in Applied Epic. In the first of our accounting series, we discussed Agency Bill and Premium Payables; in the second how to reconcile Direct Bill if your agency was on a Cash basis. In the last of this Accounting series, we will review various tips and tricks that may prove useful to furthering efficiency, ensuring accurate reporting, and getting full utilization out your investment into your Epic system.

Change your Default Month/Month End Processes

It’s important to close the month at the end of each accounting month, however, did you know that you don’t have to close on the last day of the month? If you move the default month to the new month, it will stop users from entering any further data in your closing accounting month. Procedures > Accounting > Month End then Actions > Change Default Month. Now you can continue to finish out the closing month without users entering new data. For extra security, you can also lock the month, however, you will have to unlock each time you need to enter something in the prior month. We recommend having a goal of completing your month end processes by the first few business days of the month. Don’t forget to Actions > Close Month, not Finalize!

Communicate within Epic

Many accounting departments rely on paper or email correspondence with servicing staff for things like agency bill invoices, check requests, policy information errors, etc. You can maintain better data and keep documents secured by utilizing activities in Epic to relay that information. There are a few options for utilizing activities for accounting. You can generate an activity from the Generate Invoices event and use that activity to attach invoices from the carrier or broker. Default that activity who/owner to the accounting staff so that they are not only notified that an invoice needs to be paid, but they can quickly access the invoice needed to send with the premium. You can even add multiple choices for different types of invoices. For example, $ABI – Agency Bill Invoice, $RET – Return Premium Invoice, $FIN – Financed Invoice. Another option would be to generate these activities manually. The servicing staff would enter the activity and attach all necessary documents for the accounting staff to access and process. Accounting can use these activities to follow up on payments from the client, carrier or finance company as well.

Go Paperless in Accounting

Another way to maintain accurate data and create efficiency in accounting is to attach ALL documents in Epic upon receipt. Attach items such as commission statements to the carrier/broker. You can even generate an activity when you attach those items so that you know there is a statement that needs to be entered or reconciled in General Ledger. Attach other documents such as vendor invoices, commission agreements, and any other items pertaining to accounting to the company or broker in Epic.

Be sure to label your documents with standard naming conventions. This will create efficiency when you are searching or researching documents. Using naming conventions throughout your accounting processes will increase that searchability and also provide some organization. For example, if you receive a direct bill commission via direct deposit, label the receipt “EFT Travelers May 2022 DB Comm”. Then when attaching the statement label it Travelers May 2022 DB Comm Stmt $1500.00. Lastly, in the Direct Bill Reconciliation, label the reconciliation Travelers May 2022 DB Comm. Notice how each description is very similar but has additional details based on where it is entered. Remember that some information is already generated in Epic, so you won’t need to type it in. An example would be the effective date of a deposit.

Get Better Data with Configure, Required/Desired Fields, and Utilities

There are many tools within Epic that can increase the accuracy and completion of data that can effect your accounting processes. Here are a few that can help:

– Require Pr/Br Commission

Configure > Policy > System Settings > Commissionable Producer/Broker Requirement. This function will ensure a Pr/Br is entered before a policy can be closed.

– Pr/Br Commission Agreements

Configure > Policy > System Settings > Pr/Br Commission Agreements. Here you have 2 options. If the producer/broker has multiple valid agreements you can choose to “Use the prior term’s commission agreement (if valid) upon renewal. This will stop Epic from choosing an agreement at renewal and is specifically beneficial when there is a split agreement between producers.

– Commission/Premium Calculations

Configure > Policy > Commission/Premium Calculations. Turn this function on to calculate any premium/commission at the line level and add it up to the policy level. This minimizes data entry if you have users enter estimated premium and commission only at the first line level of a policy. If you enter the agency commission percent and the estimated premium at the line level, this function will also calculate the estimated commission for you.

– Required/Desired Fields

If you’re having issues getting data entered into certain fields in Epic, right click on the field and select Desired or Required. Desired will highlight the field in yellow drawing the user’s attention to it. Required fields are highlighted in red and the user cannot exit that window before entering data into that field. Be careful when requiring, because the user may not always have the data available when completing certain processes.

– Pr/Br Reassignment Utility

If you have recently created or updated Pr/Br Commission agreements, you can use this utility to assign agreements that are new or updated as long as there is an existing Pr/Br listed on the policy. It is similar to a workload reassignment but with a few different options. This can also be used to cleanup old agreements or reassign books to a new producer or house producer code.

We hope that our Applied Epic accounting series has been helpful to you as you expand on using the accounting functionality in Epic. The KiteTech Agency Consulting Team is here to help if you have any questions about Applied Epic accounting or any of our other consulting services. We have a variety of engagements that are customized to meet your insurance agency’s unique needs. To learn more, please contact us to schedule a conversation.

Lauren Roberts

Director of Agency Consulting
Kite Technology Group

Direct Bill Commission Reconciliation in Applied Epic

April 21, 2022 by Kellie Halfpap

In the first installment of our Epic Accounting Series, we discussed the importance and steps involved with Premium Payables. For the second in the series, we will be going over how to fully reconcile Direct Bill commissions for an agency set up on a Cash basis, which will include the different areas to use within General Ledger. As mentioned in our previous article, the goal is to have a better understanding of the main General Ledger, as well as achieving more accurate reporting but to also ensure your producers and brokers are being paid accurately. While there are other available options within Epic, this is our most recommended of methods for entering and reconciling Direct Bill commissions.

Enter Receipts for Commissions Received

When you receive commissions from carriers, the first thing you want to do is enter it under Receipts in General Ledger. This ties the commission to the appropriate subaccount, which will provide cleaner and easier reporting, and will give you a way to mark the actual reconciliations as paid. This is done by going to General Ledger > Receipts > and adding a new Receipt.

Enter the details on the Add Receipt Screen. Direct Bill Commissions should be associated to the Operating Account, and the effective date should be the date it was received in the bank. Make sure the Accounting Month is correct (if you are not performing Month-End closing or changing the default month, this field may be incorrect). Enter your description and click Continue.

The Detail screen is where you enter the total commission information from a carrier. Locate the company, input the payment method, payment date, and paste the description from the previous screen. Enter the amount select General Ledger to apply it to. Locate your Direct Bill Commission Income GL Account and input that carrier’s code for the subaccount (this will further help with accurate reporting). If you have multiple entries from one day’s deposit, or need to record MVR fees, you can enter additional entries on one receipt by clicking the Add button at the top of the screen. The Add button at the bottom will create a whole new receipt. When you are finished with a receipt, you can click Finish which will close it and take you back to the main Receipts screen.

If no further action needs to be made, the next step would be to finalize the receipt by highlighting that entry and clicking Actions > Finalize Receipt. This will give it a Refer number, which you will use to tie it to the matching reconciliation entry.

Enter in all the Receipts you have for the commissions you have received. Once you are finished with this area, the next step would be to record the Direct Bill Reconciliations.

Recording Direct Bill Commissions

There are three ways to record direct bill commissions: Download, Import, and manual entry. Utilizing Download will be the most efficient way to record commissions received from carriers, but you need to work with IVANS to make sure the carriers you work with are able to download commissions to your Epic system. Once that is turned on and set up, your first step for recording with Download is navigate to the suspended commissions by going to Procedures > Interface Management > Assign Items in Suspense > Direct Bill > Run. From there you will see the list of various commissions received. It’s important to set up the necessary columns so that you can easily find each commission grouping.

Each grouping is assigned a Batch ID, which you can sort by to gather all commissions in that batch together. You want to look at each entry in the batch to make sure there are no blanks in information, and to make sure the Accounting Month is correct. If you find an entry without its lookup code, for example, that means that Download could not find that account in your system to tie it to. This could mean that the policy number in Epic is entered differently from the carrier’s records, or maybe the policy has not been renewed yet. Make sure to locate and fix any accounts with blank information while on this screen, or it will not process and move out of Suspense. It is also crucial to look at the Premium Payable Entity listed for each entry in the batch – make sure they all match and list the same entity. Make sure any changes you make on this screen, you also make on the account’s policy level so that going forward, this information will be correct the next time commission downloads for it.

To move a Batch out of Suspense, click Actions > Update Items in Suspense > Direct Bill.

The next screen will show you everything from Download Suspense. Click Deselect All so it does not select everything. You want to filter to the specific Batch ID then click Select All – this selects everything in that batch. Before clicking Finish, click on the edit pencil under the Comm Log section at the top of your screen and select Notify Only so that it does not print. You can now Finish. It will take a few seconds to process depending on the size of the statement. Once finished, navigate over to General Ledger > Reconciliations > Direct Bill to see the entry that you just processed.
The next most efficient way to record direct bill commissions is to use the Import feature in General Ledger. If you can receive or pull Excel statements from the carrier, you can easily create a Mapping File and copy that information to your Mapping File template. Some set up under Configure will be needed to set up your Mapping File, which will match your Excel template.

After your mapping file is configured and your Excel template is created, you can copy/paste the commission statement information onto your template. Save and close the template then navigate to General Ledger > Import > Direct Bill Transactions. Add a new import and complete the Add Batch screen.

The next screen after clicking Finish will take you to the Import suspense screen. You will see your Import which may say Processing – click refresh after a few seconds to see the completed import. If the total does not match the carrier statement, open the import to locate errors (ex: it cannot find the policy, or the billing type is incorrect). Locate the accounts and fix then re-upload the import. When the total is correct, you can proceed with moving the import by clicking Actions > Import Batch. It will take a few seconds to process but will disappear from this screen once completed and move over to Reconciliations > Direct Bill Commissions screen.

The third way to record Direct Bill transactions is by manually entering them. This is done by going to General Ledger > Reconciliations > Direct Bill Commissions. Click on the + button to add record a new commission entry.

In the next screen, select whether you are recording a Company or Broker statement, then also select whether you are recording commissions or reconciling commissions. The difference between the two is that when you select Record commissions, you are adding items right from a carrier statement that is not already transacted in the system. Reconcile commissions, used when your agency is on an accrual basis, means you have transacted the items in the system and are now comparing them to the statement. Select the appropriate choice, your carrier entity, description, accounting month and select Detail.

When you select Record commissions, the next screen shows you a list of filtered policies of all accounts written through that carrier. You can expand your search to find specific policies, or you can clear that filter, select the add button in the middle of the screen and do a manual search for the accounts listed on the carrier statement.

When you click the Add button, it takes you to the screen where you can search for your account. Select how you want to locate by (client name, policy number, etc.) and find the client. Choose the correct policy and make sure you select ‘Both’ under Record Transaction. If you know the type of transaction (new business, renewal, endorsement) select that code. If not, select the Direct bill code, and input the amount and commission details. If you have additional accounts on the carrier statement, click Add to find another account and repeat the process until you are finished with the statement. When you are done you can click Finish. Verify that the total commission amount matches your carrier statement and close the record.

With that record highlighted you can now proceed with finalizing and tying the entry to the Receipt entered previously. To finalize, you click Actions > Finalize Statement.

After that, you want to click Actions > Associate GL Item. A window will appear which will allow you to associate to the Receipt. Select the Operating Bank Account and enter the associating refer number. Next to Detail, click on the dropdown and select the receipt line that matches the Direct Bill amount. Click Finish. This completes the Direct Bill reconciliation process.

Following these steps and incorporating any of the three ways to record direct bill commissions will ensure proper reporting and that your producers and brokers are properly paid. As always, KiteTech is available to assist with standardizing your accounting procedures or to help you take your Applied Epic utilization to the next level. Contact us today to find out more.

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Premium Payables in Applied Epic Accounting

February 17, 2022 by Kellie Halfpap

When it comes to the General Ledger section of Applied Epic, we find that there tends to be numerous accounting workflows with additional steps that agencies do not realize need to be completed. When these workflows are not completed in their entirety, it causes unbalanced and inaccurate reporting, which can then create pain-points especially when using these reports for month-end bank reconciliation. In the first of our Accounting Series, we will be going over Premium Payables and the steps that must be taken to fully reconcile agency billed policies to achieve accurate reporting. The goal of this series is to help you gain a better understanding of the main areas of General Ledger and enable you to utilize Applied Epic’s accounting features to the benefit of your agency.

RECONCILE PREMIUM PAYABLES

When paying carriers or brokers for agency billed policies, it’s important to reconcile and reflect those as paid. This is done by going to General Ledger > Reconciliations > Premium Payable and adding a new Reconciliation entry.

Once the appropriate entity and amount due is selected, the next step is to click Actions > Pay Statement. This action finalizes the entry and reflects it as a Disbursement to the carrier or broker for the payment.

If the statement is for a returned premium from the carrier or broker, you will need to finalize the reconciliation (Actions > Finalize Statement) for the returned items and Associate the GL Item from Receipts where you deposited the return.

You can also finalize the statement and then enter the Receipt for it to select the statement in the Receipts area.

RECONCILE MANUALLY REVERSED AGENCY BILL TRANSACTIONS

Sometimes you will come across a zero-dollar reconciliation. This can occur when you are flagging items that have been manually reversed. It is important to know that you should NOT close these items without paying, as this will result in those transactions remaining on your Premium Payables reports. The proper way to reflect those items as “paid” is to create a $1 Journal Entry in Epic. Create a new Journal Entry and add a $1 debit from your premium payable GL code and a $1 credit to the same code. Save the Refer # from this journal entry to use for all zero-dollar premium payable reconciliations going forward. When you have finalized a zero-dollar reconciliation, you then associate that statement to the $1 Journal Entry refer number that you created.

PREMIUM FINANCING IN EPIC

If your finance company sends the premium directly to the carrier, you will reflect the amount financed and paid to the finance company by using the CFIN – Company Finance Transaction – code. This removes the balance from the client account. It will also be reflected in the Premium Payable Reconciliation for you to flag to reduce the amount you will be sending to the carrier.

Alternatively, if your finance company sends the premium to your agency for you to forward to the carrier or broker, you will need to use Actions > Finance Transaction from the client transactions screen. This will remove the financed amount from the client’s balance and move it to the Finance Company receivables. When you receive the premium from the finance company, you’ll apply it directly to the Finance Company receivables. You would then enter the amount paid to the carrier or broker as a Disbursement.

If there is an instance of a return premium due to the finance company, you will still finance these transactions and they will still need to be reconciled in Premium Payables under General Ledger. The difference is that the premium balance is moved from the client to the finance company.

REPORTS FOR PREMIUM PAYABLES

There are multiple reports that you can run monthly to find and balance any outstanding Premium Payables:

Balancing Current Premium Payables – Use this report to balance to the Premium Payables General Ledger account for prior periods. You also can view the client’s receivable balance and whether the agency has paid the carrier or received premium from the carrier.
Aged Current Premium Payables – This report will reflect the age date of a premium payable due to the carrier or broker.
Premium Payables – This report is very similar to the Balancing Current Premium Payables report. However, the Balancing Current Premium Payables report includes a summary page at the end in addition to this information.

There are some newer versions of these reports available from Applied; contact Applied Support to have the new reports loaded to your Epic system if you have not received them yet. As always, KiteTech is available to assist with standardizing your accounting procedures. Email us at consult@kitetechgroup.com to find out more.

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group

Transitioning Your Accounting Practices From QuickBooks to Applied Epic

December 9, 2021 by Kellie Halfpap Leave a Comment

It has become an ongoing trend that agencies are beginning the transition of moving some or all their accounting information out of QuickBooks to their Epic system. The main advantages to this transition would be that all your agency information would be condensed into one platform, and you would ultimately be able to pull the most accurate reports with all your data being in one place. But there are certain differences and steps that need to be taken for a clean transition and to make sure you are utilizing the accounting features in Epic accurately.

Below we’ll discuss the most important steps, however, it is important to know that appropriate training and assistance is imperative to ensure your agency completes this transition correctly and that your employees understand the features and capabilities Epic has related to accounting.

Perform an Epic “Fresh Start” Cleanup

Even if you haven’t been using Epic for accounting purposes, odds are that there is still some data in your system that needs to be cleaned up. If you are going to transition to Epic, make sure you are starting with a clean system that does not contain old data that could affect your reports. This is a task best handled by a consultant or Applied Epic Accounting Specialist, as they know what steps are needed to clean up your Epic system and provide you with a clean slate configured to fit your agency’s needs.

Set up Your Bank Accounts and Enter Opening Balances

You will want to ensure that your bank accounts are set up and configured within Applied Epic since you will be recording direct bill commissions, premium payables, vendor payables, etc. Typically, you will have an Operating Account (for commission and vendor payables/expenses) and a Trust Account (client receivables and premium payables). After that, select your start month and record your beginning account balances. This way, at the end of each month, you can reconcile and ensure your accounts match what you recorded in Epic.

Determine Who Will Transact on Account and Who Will Access General Ledger

Will account managers/CSRs transact policies on account, or will that be designated to one person? It’s imperative to determine who will be performing these operations within Epic and provide proper training and workflows accordingly. If the account managers or CSRs are not transacting, there needs to be communication between them and the accounting department – this can all be performed within Epic. You can configure specific accounting activity codes to go directly to the accounting contact that will advise them on what action they need to make on a particular account. If you are unsure how to set this up, a consultant can advise on the best way to utilize this feature so that all information stays contained within Applied Epic.

Run Reports to Find Gaps in Data

Before you start reconciling commissions in Epic, you want to make sure that there aren’t any policies with missing or incorrect data. For seamless and easy accounting entry, you will want your existing data to be as accurate as possible. Run a Line Book of Business report to look for discrepancies such as missing or incorrect Producer commission in the Pr/Br tab, incomplete Servicing tab information, and incorrect policy statuses. Cleaning up and fixing any incorrect or missing data will be beneficial, not only for accounting but also for ongoing accurate reporting.

Turn on Download and Set up Mapping Files

Before you begin reconciling commissions, work with IVANS to turn on direct bill download. Find out which carriers you work with that download commissions, and make sure those are ready to start coming in through Download. Utilizing Download will be the fastest way to record direct bill commissions. You will also want to set up your mapping files in Configure, as you may also have commission statement spreadsheets to import into Epic for direct bill transactions. When it comes to direct bill commission entry, importing is the 2nd fastest way to record transactions from a carrier statement. However, for a mapping file to be successful, all policy details need to be correct – this includes correct bill type, PPE, policy number, and effective date.

While moving your accounting information from QuickBooks to Epic may seem daunting, it makes the most sense to have all data in a single platform. Epic also has a multitude of reports available that can provide an accurate overview of your data, but only if all the information is recorded into Epic. Some agencies may not be able to fully transition all their data over to Epic for various operational reasons, but we do recommend utilizing the accounting areas in Epic as much as possible. Each area of Epic affects and connects to another, so recording all information (accounting or otherwise) will ensure data is entered correctly, workflows are followed, and your reports and balances are accurate. If you are unsure how or where to begin, feel free to reach out to KiteTech to schedule a complimentary consultation to discuss your agency’s accounting needs. We are here to help!

Kellie Halfpap

Agency Consultant
Kite Technology Group